World girds for months of trouble as virus pushes west
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World girds for months of trouble as virus pushes westWorld girds
for months of trouble as virus pushes west 5 March 2020, by Matt
Sedensky
An employee holds a board to give face mask sales informations as
people line up to buy face masks to protect themselves from the new
coronavirus outside Nonghyup Hanaro Mart in Seoul, South Korea,
Thursday, March 5, 2020. The number of infections of the COVID-19
disease spread around the globe. The signs read "Face mask sales
informations on March 5, Sale time: PM 2:00 and Sales quantity:
1,500 people."(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
People around the world girded for months of disruptions from the
new virus Thursday as its unrelenting spread brought ballooning
infections, economic fallout and sweeping containment
measures.
"Countries should be preparing for sustained community
transmission," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, leader of the World
Health Organization, said of the 2-month-old virus outbreak. "Our
message to all countries is: This is not a one-way street. We can
push this virus back. Your actions now will determine the course of
the outbreak in your country."
In places around the globe, a split was developing. China has been
issuing daily reports of new
infections that are drastically down from their highs, factories
there are gradually reopening and there is a growing sense that
normalcy might not be that far off. Meanwhile, countries elsewhere
are seeing escalating caseloads and a litany of cancellations,
closures, travel bans and supply shortages.
There are about 17 times as many new infections outside China as in
it, WHO said, with widening outbreaks in South Korea, Italy and
Iran responsible for a majority.
"The virus doesn't care about race and belief or color. It is
attacking us all, equally," said Ian MacKay, who studies viruses at
the University of Queensland in Australia. "We're looking at a
pandemic in all practical reality."
A city worker disinfects a taxi because of the new coronavirus, in
Tehran, Iran, Thursday, March 5, 2020. Iran has one of the highest
death tolls in the world from the new coronavirus outside of China,
the epicenter of the outbreak. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Desperate to keep a crisis from expanding within their borders,
countries have been further tightening travel restrictions.
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Australia said Thursday that it is banning travel from South Korea
by those who aren't Australian citizens or permanent residents,
following similar bans for China and Iran. Indonesia announced
restrictions on travelers from specific parts of Iran, Italy and
South Korea after previously banning travel from China. The United
Arab Emirates warned its people not to travel anywhere abroad and
said those who do could be subject to quarantines when they
return.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said visitors from China and
South Korea would need to complete a two-week quarantine at a
government facility and be barred from public transit. Sri Lankans
arriving from Italy, South Korea and Iran will be quarantined at a
hospital for leprosy patients, health authorities announced. And in
Iran, where the case count rose to 3,513 and the death toll climbed
to 107, checkpoints were to be set up to limit travel between major
cities.
Ambulances are sprayed with disinfectant as a precaution against
the new coronavirus in front of a military hospital in Gyeongsan,
South Korea, March 5, 2020. (Kim Hyun-tai/Yonhap via AP)
Still, no country has matched China's willingness to turn to
draconian measures to keep the virus from spreading, but around the
world, governments took drastic steps.
Italy closed all schools and universities and forbade
fans from attending sporting events. Saudi Arabia barred citizens
from Islam's holiest sites. In the United States, where 11 have
died from the virus, hundreds of people were placed in
self-quarantines due to cases in a New York suburb.
In places around Europe and the U.S., anxiety was causing supplies
of hand sanitizer and face masks to sell out, as people stood in
snaking lines to stock up on food and water.
"A new risk is always scarier than one we're familiar with because
it has elements of the unknown," said David Ropeik, who authored
the book "How Risky Is It, Really?"
Waiters wait for customers outside a restaurant next to the
Pantheon, in Rome, Thursday, March 5, 2020. Italy closed all
schools and universities and barred fans from all sporting events
for the next few weeks, as governments trying to curb the spread of
the coronavirus around the world resorted to increasingly sweeping
measures that transformed the way people work, shop, pray and amuse
themselves. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
South Korea, which has the highest number of infections outside
China, announced strict controls on face masks, which have been in
such high demand that people have stood in line for hours to buy
them. Beginning Friday, exports of masks will be prohibited and
South Koreans will be limited to buying two masks a week, and only
on specific days determined by the year of their birth.
2 / 6
"The supply side hasn't been able to keep up," said Kim Yong-beom,
the vice finance minister in South Korea, which reported 467 new
infections Thursday, bringing its total to 6,088.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a letter to South Korean
President Moon Jae-in to express condolences over the health
crisis. Officials in Seoul said Kim "underlined his unwavering
friendship and trust toward President Moon and said that he will
continue to quietly send his best wishes for President Moon to
overcome" the outbreak. It wasn't clear if the letter was an
attempt to improve strained ties.
A lone cyclist rides along Via Dei Fori Imperiali (Road of the
Imperial Forums) in Rome, Thursday, March 5, 2020. Italy closed all
schools and universities and barred fans from all sporting events
for the next few weeks, as governments trying to curb the spread of
the coronavirus around the world resorted to increasingly sweeping
measures that transformed the way people work, shop, pray and amuse
themselves. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Markets in Asia and Europe rose Thursday after a surge on Wall
Street, but fear of economic fallout from the virus' spread
remained. Ministers from the oil-producing countries in OPEC were
weighing slashing output to control plunging prices exacerbated by
the outbreak. And the U.S. Federal Reserve reported the virus has
impacted tourism, lowered demand for aircraft and brought supply-
chain disruptions.
Iranians were urged to reduce their use of paper money and to stay
in their cars and have gas station attendants fill their tanks to
limit the possibility of virus transmission.
In the biblical city of Bethlehem, the Church of the Nativity,
built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born, was
being closed over virus fears. The Palestinian Authority said it
was preventing all tourists from entering the West Bank.
A Muslim pilgrim wears a mask as he visits the Grand Mosque, in the
Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, March 5, 2020.
Saudi Arabia's Deputy Health Minister Abdel-Fattah Mashat was
quoted on the state- linked news site Al-Yaum saying that groups of
visitors to Mecca from inside the country would now also be barred
from performing the pilgrimage, known as the umrah. (AP Photo/Amr
Nabil)
Even the joyful Indian celebration of Holi, in which Hindu revelers
celebrate the arrival of spring with bursts of color, including
bright powders smeared on faces, was impacted by the virus. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders said the virus would keep
them from attending Holi events Tuesday, and the Holi Moo Festival
in New Delhi was canceled.
The string of bad news related to the virus was weighing on people.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged state television to offer
"happier"
3 / 6
programs to entertain those stuck at home in a country with a
worsening outbreak. Some 2,900 have been sickened and 92 have died
in Iran.
"I urge all artists, scientists, psychologists and all who can
bring smiles to people's faces, come into the social media," he
said. "Today, words that make people tired are no longer
advantageous."
South Korean soldiers wearing protective gears spray disinfectant
as a precaution against the new coronavirus in Seoul, South Korea,
Thursday, March 5, 2020. The number of infections of the COVID-19
disease spread around the globe. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A Muslim pilgrim feeds pigeons outside the Grand Mosque, in the
Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, March 5, 2020.
Saudi Arabia's Deputy Health Minister Abdel-Fattah Mashat was
quoted on the state-
linked news site Al-Yaum saying that groups of visitors to Mecca
from inside the country would now also be barred from performing
the pilgrimage, known as the umrah. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
In this Dec. 23, 2019, file, photo, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe, left, shakes hand with China's President Xi Jinping, right, at
the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi's state visit to Japan
has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak affecting both
countries, Japan's chief government spokesman said Thursday, March
5, 2020. (Noel Celis/Pool Photo via AP, File)
People line up to buy face masks to protect themselves from the new
coronavirus outside Nonghyup Hanaro Mart in Seoul, South Korea,
Thursday, March 5, 2020. The number of infections of the COVID-19
disease spread around the globe. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
4 / 6
In this Saturday, March 21, 2009 file photo, the pack pedals by the
town of Campo Ligure during the Milan- San Remo cycling classic in
Italy. The impact of the Covid-19 virus on cycling has been
escalating as Australian team Mitchelton-Scott decided to withdraw
from racing until March 22. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati,
File)
A man with a protective mask takes an escalator at a business
building Thursday, March 5, 2020, in Tokyo. The number of
infections of the COVID-19 disease spread around the globe. (AP
Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
In China, where hospitals were releasing hundreds of recovered
patients, officials reported 139 new cases of infection and 31 more
deaths. In all, the country has reported 80,409 cases and 3,012
deaths. More than two-thirds of those in China who contracted the
virus have been discharged from
hospitals, officials said. Of those who remain hospitalized, about
6,000 are in serious condition.
A state visit to Japan by Chinese President Xi Jinping was
postponed as both countries deal with the virus. The trip, set for
April, was to be the first for a Chinese leader since Hu Jintao
visited in 2008.
Worldwide, some 95,000 people in about 80 countries have been
infected.
© 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without
permission.
5 / 6
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